Managing activities performed by a plurality of collocated mobile devices

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for managing activities among collocated mobile devices include means for determining a set of tasks to be performed collectively by the two or more collocated mobile devices while collocated and during a period of time in the future, the two or more collocated devices being configured to communicate with one another; means for assigning a first task of the set of tasks to be performed by a first mobile device of the two or more collocated mobile devices; and means for assigning a second task of the set of tasks to be performed by a second mobile device of the two or more collocated mobile devices; wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device are different from one another with regard to at least one subsystem, and are each capable of performing the first task and the second task.

The present application for patent is a Continuation of patentapplication Ser. No. 14/636,878, entitled, “MANAGING ACTIVITIESPERFORMED BY A PLURALITY OF COLLOCATED MOBILE DEVICES,” filed Mar. 3,2015, pending, and assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expresslyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

Disclosed aspects relate to data processing techniques for use in aplurality of mobile devices that may be collocated (e.g., nearby oneanother), and in particular to data processing techniques for use inmanaging activities among two or more mobile devices, wherein theactivities may be associated with one or more positioning functions.

BACKGROUND

The growing popularity of wearable electronic devices like smartwatches, wristbands or arm bands, anklets or leg bands, hats, shoes,belts, vests, eye glasses, goggles, badges, rings, etc., has led to someusers having multiple mobile devices (which may be considered“collocated” as being proximate or nearby one another), such as, forexample being carried on their person. As such, in certain instances auser may carry multiple mobile devices such as a smart-phone and asmart-watch, which may be equipped with various functionalities. Forexample, in certain instances, two or more such collocated mobiledevices may be equipped with positioning related functionality, e.g.,for various navigation, tracking, routing, and/or other likecapabilities. Hence, in certain instances, two or more of suchcollocated mobile devices may include various components or subsystems,such as sensors, functional blocks, communication modules, etc., thatmay provide or otherwise support positioning.

With respect to positioning, for example, different mobile devices andtheir component sets of subsystems may be capable of performing some ofthe same or related activities for navigating and/or tracking a useralong a desired route and providing related metrics such as speed,elevation, calories burned, etc. Thus, it may be that two or more mobiledevices may consume power to perform the same or similar functions.Since mobile devices tend to rely heavily on battery power, it isusually desirable to reduce power consumption and increase battery life.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments are directed to systems and methods for managingtwo or more mobile devices that are collocated.

For example, method for use in managing two or more mobile devices thatare collocated, the method comprising: determining a set of tasks to beperformed collectively by the two or more collocated mobile deviceswhile collocated and during a period of time in the future, the two ormore collocated devices being configured to communicate with oneanother; assigning a first task of the set of tasks to be performed by afirst mobile device of the two or more collocated mobile devices; andassigning a second task of the set of tasks to be performed by a secondmobile device of the two or more collocated mobile devices, wherein thefirst mobile device and the second mobile device are different from oneanother with regard to at least one subsystem, and wherein the firstmobile device and the second mobile device are each capable ofperforming the first task and the second task.

Another exemplary aspect relates to an apparatus configured to manageactivities among two or more mobile devices that are collocated, theapparatus comprising memory; and a processor coupled to the memory. Theprocessor is configured to: determine a set of tasks to be performedcollectively by the two or more collocated mobile devices whilecollocated and during a period of time in the future, the two or morecollocated devices being configured to communicate with one another;assign a first task of the set of tasks to be performed by a firstmobile device of the two or more collocated mobile devices; and assign asecond task of the set of tasks to be performed by a second mobiledevice of the two or more collocated mobile devices, wherein the firstmobile device and the second mobile device are different from oneanother with regard to at least one subsystem, and wherein the firstmobile device and the second mobile device are each capable ofperforming the first task and the second task.

Yet another exemplary aspect relates to system for managing activitiesamong two or more mobile devices that collocated, the system comprising:means for determining a set of tasks to be performed collectively by thetwo or more collocated mobile devices while collocated and during aperiod of time in the future, the two or more collocated devices beingconfigured to communicate with one another; means for assigning a firsttask of the set of tasks to be performed by a first mobile device of thetwo or more collocated mobile devices; and means for assigning a secondtask of the set of tasks to be performed by a second mobile device ofthe two or more collocated mobile devices, wherein the first mobiledevice and the second mobile device are different from one another withregard to at least one subsystem, and wherein the first mobile deviceand the second mobile device are each capable of performing the firsttask and the second task.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description ofembodiments of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustrationof the embodiments and not limitation thereof.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example system that includes two ormore mobile devices that are located in close proximity to or otherwisenearby one another, in accordance with certain example implementations.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of certain features of a mobile devicethat may be used in the example system of FIG. 1, in accordance withcertain example implementations.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of example indoor/outdoor environments that maycorrespond to the example system of FIG. 1, within which two or morecollocated mobile devices may be moved about together in some manner, inaccordance with certain example implementations.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example procedure to manage particularactivities that may be performed by two or more mobile devices, forexample as in FIG. 1, in accordance with certain exampleimplementations.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of sample aspects of an apparatusconfigured to support certain techniques as taught herein, in accordancewith certain example implementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods for managing activities (e.g., tasks, capabilities,components, subsystems, etc.) among two or more mobile devices locatednearby one another, such as, for example, on a user's person, among ornearby a group of people, wherein one or more may be part of a machineor vehicle nearby one or more mobile devices on a person or group, justto name a few examples, are disclosed. An aspect determines a route oftravel for the user prior to a start of travel (e.g., such a route oftravel may correspond to a planned or predicted route of travel, orotherwise estimated or likely heading or trajectory, etc.), determines aset of activities associated with the route, and schedules the set ofactivities among a first set of subsystems in a first mobile device ofthe two or more mobile devices and a second set of subsystems in asecond mobile device of the two or more mobile devices. In certainimplementations, the first mobile device and the second mobile devicemay be configured to communicate with one another directly or indirectly(e.g., via one or more other devices). In certain instances, the firstset of subsystems and the second set of subsystems may have at least onesubsystem which is different.

These and other aspects of the disclosure are disclosed in the followingdescription and related drawings directed to specific embodiments of thedisclosure. Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing fromthe scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of thedisclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as notto obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term “embodiments ofthe disclosure” does not require that all embodiments of the disclosureinclude the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments ofthe disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the”are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that theterms “comprises”, “comprising,”, “includes” and/or “including”, whenused herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Further, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actionsto be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It willbe recognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequence ofactions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any form of computer readable storage medium having storedtherein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon executionwould cause an associated processor to perform the functionalitydescribed herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may beembodied in a number of different forms, all of which have beencontemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Inaddition, for each of the embodiments described herein, thecorresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as,for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

Exemplary aspects relate to a controller or manager configured to managea set of activities among two or more devices. More specifically, theactivities may relate to various positioning functions, applications,and/or capabilities. For example, an aspect may relate to a controllerconfigured to manage a set of activities between a first device (e.g.,smart-phone, lap-top, etc.) and a second device (e.g. smart-watch,smart-phone, navigation device, etc.), which may each have a respectiveset of subsystems/components integrated or otherwise provisionedtherein. For example, these subsystems/components may include one ormore sensors, one or more communication modules, one or more processingsystems, etc., one or more of which may be used to provide or supportpositioning. By managing activities on the smart-phone and smart-watchin a collaborative manner, allocation and/or usage of resources may bebetter optimized, performance may be improved, and redundant processingmay be reduced, avoided, or otherwise controlled. For example, byallocating a set of activities to be performed on a first set ofsubsystems of the smart-phone (first device) and avoiding repetitiveperformance of the same or related activities on a second set ofsubsystems of the smart-watch (second device), the subsystems of thesmart-watch may be disabled or powered down (e.g., in order to reducepower consumption). Accordingly, assigning or allocating at least oneactivity among the first and set of subsystems may involve disabling oneor more subsystems in the first set of subsystems, disabling one or moresubsystems in the second set of subsystems, or both. Further, somemobile devices may be configured with subsystems which have differentspecifications, and thus, a controller may be able to select amongavailable subsystems across the two or more devices, for a particularactivity. In this manner, performance may be improved.

An exemplary controller may include systems, devices, methods, and otherimplementations to predictively determine a set of activities to beperformed for a particular function, application, and/or capability. Forthe case of a positioning application, some of these activities maycomprise activities to be performed along a route of travel (e.g., for aperson carrying the mobile devices or otherwise being transported alongwith the mobile devices). Such activities include, for example,activating or deactivating certain subsystems such as sensors orreceivers depending on where a mobile device is, obtaining mapinformation for a particular area in which a mobile device will betraveling prior to arriving at that area, etc. For example, a pressuresensor (e.g., a barometer) may not be needed if a route of travel isexpected to remain on a level surface or same altitude, e.g., one levelof a building. In another example, a GNSS receiver may not be neededwhen a route of travel is expected to remain indoors. In anotherexample, when a mobile device transitions from an indoor to an outdoorenvironment, certain positioning modules may be configured to obtainadditional assistance data for positioning, possibly while the mobiledevice is still indoors. Thus, some positioning activities may requireparticular subsystems or components, and accordingly, the relatedsubsystems or components may be turned on or off or otherwise affectedin some manner depending on whether or not the corresponding activity isallocated or assigned to an applicable mobile device by the controller.

Additionally in the case of some functions/capabilities which mayinvolve routing or navigational features, activities other than thosespecifically related to positioning may be performed. For example, somehealth and fitness related capabilities may involve biometric functionssuch as heart rate monitoring, pulse rate monitoring, etc. Suchactivities may be associated with positioning to provide a user of themobile device(s) with biometric measurements on the fly during a user'sfitness activity (e.g., running, swimming, cycling, etc.) and/or arecord of these measurements for goal tracking and future analysis.

Thus, in this disclosure, a set of exemplary activities related topositioning functions collectively refers to any such routingactivities, navigation activities, location activities, biometricfunctions, etc., which may be performed in conjunction with tracking auser's progress along a route or providing navigational assistance orother useful information to a user. In exemplary aspects, theseactivities may be scheduled, assigned, or performed in a collaborativeand/or distributed manner among two or more mobile devices by acontroller, which may improve overall performance and minimize powerconsumed during the execution of the activities.

As such, managing of exemplary activities can involve a enabling and/ordisabling of one or more subsystems or components of sets of subsystemsthat may be included on one or more of the two or more devices. Thesesubsystems may include sensors (e.g., positioning sensors,accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, pressure sensors, etc.),application specific processors, digital signal processors, generalpurpose processors, memory systems, display systems, communicationsystems including antennae, receivers, transmitters, monitors such asheart rate monitors, blood pressure monitors, etc., just to name a fewexamples. In some implementations, an exemplary controller (which may beoperating in whole or part in at least one of the two or more mobiledevices, and/or in one or more separate remote computing devices) may beconfigured to generate or create a list or set of activities to beperformed on these various subsystems. Each device may have its ownunique set of subsystems integrated thereon, and moreover, similarsubsystems on each mobile device may have different specifications. Inexemplary aspects, the controller may generate a set of activities inthe form of a list, a schedule, a plan etc., which may be based on aparticular route of travel and subsystems present across the two or moremobile devices. The controller may also be aware of which subsystems maybe available for to schedule, assign, and/or manage activities on, andwhich subsystems may be unavailable (e.g., because they may be requiredby other applications which may be running on the mobile devices).

Exemplary aspects may be particularly applied to cases where the two ormore mobile devices have at least one subsystem or component which isdifferent or not common. Example aspects relate to cases where onemobile device is a smart-phone, tablet, personal device assistant (PDA),etc., which may be used for multimedia and computation applications, andanother mobile device is a wearable electronic device such as asmart-watch. Thus, these two devices may have some similar subsystemswhereas there are likely to be differences based on the different usesand requirements of these mobile devices. Moreover, in exemplaryaspects, the two or more mobile devices may be on a user's person or intheir presence, which may indicate that the mobile devices are in closeproximity to one another and thus may be considered to be collocated ata same position. Thus, collaborative scheduling of activities along aroute of travel may be possible across these two or more mobile devices.

In some aspects, two or more mobile devices may be collocated even ifthey are not on the person, or under control of, or operated by, asingle user. For example, two or more collocated mobile devices in thisdisclosure may be within close proximity of one another and may pertainto one or more persons and/or objects. In an example scenario, a firstmobile device (e.g., a smart-phone) may be carried by a first user and asecond mobile device (e.g., another smart-phone, a smart-watch, or alap-top) may be carried by a second user, where the first and seconduser are known to share a common route of travel whilst being in closeproximity of one another, such as, traveling in a same automobile orwalking together along a same path. In such a scenario, the first andsecond mobile devices may be treated as collocated devices and acontroller may manage activities among the two mobile devices in acollaborative manner. In another scenario, a user carrying a smart-phonemay travel in an automobile equipped with a navigation system, where theuser's smart-phone and the automobile's navigation system may be treatedas collocated devices for collaborative management and control ofactivities to be performed. For example, positioning activities fornavigating through a route of travel may be de-activated on the user'ssmart-phone, since the automobile's navigation system may be capable ofperforming these activities. In this manner, battery life on the user'ssmart phone may be conserved.

In exemplary aspects, two or more mobile devices may be determined to becollocated at the time a route of travel and associated activities havebeen determined. However, in some cases, one or more mobile devices maybe discovered along an existing route of travel. For example, if asecond user carrying a second mobile device were to join the first usercarrying the first mobile device in the automobile equipped with anavigation system in the above example, the second mobile device may bediscovered by a controller, whereby the controller may manage activitiespertaining to the common route of travel amongst the first mobiledevice, the second mobile device, and the automobile's navigationsystem.

Accordingly, while a detailed discussion of collocated mobile deviceswill be provided for cases where two or more mobile devices are on asame user's person or presence, it will be understood that activitiescan be controlled and managed for a common route of travel on differenttypes of collocated mobile devices which need not be present on a singleuser.

With reference to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of an example system 100and various environments in which mobile devices 108 and 109 (which maybe collocated) operate is shown. The mobile devices (also referred to aswireless devices or as mobile stations) may be configured to operate andinteract with multiple types of other communication systems/devices,including local area network devices (or nodes), such as WLAN for indoorcommunication, femtocells, Bluetooth-based transceivers, and other typesof communication network nodes, wide area wireless network nodes,satellite communication systems, etc., and as such the mobile devices108 and 109 may include one or more interfaces to communicate with thevarious types of communications systems. As used herein, communicationsystem/devices with which the mobile devices 108 and 109 may communicateare also referred to as access points (AP's). As used herein, the term“wireless device” may refer to any type of wireless communication devicewhich may transfer information over a network and also have positiondetermination and/or navigation functionality. The mobile devices may beconfigured as wireless devices, and may include (by way of somenon-limiting examples) a cellular mobile terminal, personalcommunication system (PCS) device, personal navigation device, laptop,personal digital assistant, as well as devices which may be known in theart to include wearable electronic devices, such as, smart-watches,eyeglasses, bracelets, rings, etc., and any other suitable mobile devicecapable of receiving and processing wireless signals, which may includesatellite signals.

In more detail, system 100 may include one or more different types ofwireless communication systems and/or wireless positioning systems.Wireless signals from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) sources102 a-b (e.g., satellites) may be used for multi-lateration of mobiledevices 108 and 109. One or more terrestrial sources, such (by way ofsome non-limiting examples) as cellular base stations, Wide Area NetworkWireless Access Points (WAN-WAPs), Wide Area Wireless Network (WWAN),WiMAX (e.g., 802.16), etc. are illustrated as sources 104 a-c, which maybe used for wireless voice and/or data communication, and as anothersource of position information for mobile device 108. Sources 104 a-cmay operate from fixed positions, and provide network coverage overlarge metropolitan and/or regional areas. One or more other wirelesssignal sources such as Local Area Network Wireless Access Points(LAN-WAPs), WLAN, Wi-Fi networks (802.11x), cellular piconets and/orfemtocells, Bluetooth Networks, etc. (by way of some non-limitingexamples), are illustrated as sources 106 a-e, which may be used forwireless voice and/or data communication, as well as yet another sourcefor positioning data. Sources 106 a-e may operate in environments, thatinclude buildings, and capable of performing communications over smallergeographic regions than a WWAN, for example. Mobile device 108 mayderive position information from any one or more of sources 102 a-b, 104a-c, and/or 106 a-e, in any suitable combination. Furthermore,embodiments can conform to other types of positioning systems thatutilize pseudolites or ground-based transceivers. When derivingposition, mobile devices 108 and 109 may utilize time of arrivaltechniques and/or the like, possibly with the assistance of apositioning server 110, which may communicate with mobile device 108through network 112. Although not illustrated in FIG. 1, it should beunderstood that some of the terrestrial-based electronic devices (e.g.,104, 110, and 106) may be operatively coupled together via one or morewire/fiber or other like backhaul communication capabilities, possiblyincluding one or more networks and/or other like devices, services, etc.

In FIG. 1, mobile device 108 is representatively shown as a smart-phoneand mobile device 109 is representatively shown as a smart-watch,although it will be understood that these representations are merely byway of example, but not limitation. Exemplary aspects are equallyapplicable to any other set of two or more mobile devices compatiblewith an example environment such as system 100, and particularly, wherethe mobile devices are collocated or within close proximity to oneanother (such as on a user's person, in their clothing, bags, etc.),such that activities may be shared or collaboratively scheduled amongthese mobile devices. In certain instances, rather than being associatedwith a person such collocated mobile devices may be associated withanother form of an animal, a machine, or some combination thereof. Incertain implementations, mobile devices 108 and 109 may also communicatewith one another directly or indirectly, for example, via wirelessnetworking technologies such as, Bluetooth connection, WiFi, Ultra WideBand, ZigBee, wireless USB, etc., and/or through any other combinationof wireless communication possible within system 100. In some aspects, awired communication, e.g., through a wire or compatible universalsynchronous bus (USB) cable, may also be possible between the mobiledevices 108 and 109, particularly where the mobile devices 108 and 109are collocated or within close proximity to each other, such as on auser's person.

As such, a controller (e.g., integrated on at least one of the mobiledevices 108, 109 or on a remote server or other like remote computingdevice in communication with at least one of the mobile devices 108,109) may be configured to generate a list or set of activities to beperformed based on a predicted or expected route of travel determinedfor one or both of the mobile devices 108, 109. Such anexpected/predicted route of travel may be determined by computing aroute between a start and destination point (which may be provided by auser) based on map data available at least one of the mobile devices108, 109 and/or a remote server (e.g., positioning server 110). Incircumstances where more than one route of travel between the start anddestination points is possible or available, the selected route oftravel may be a route that meets some pre-determined criteria (e.g.,shortest route, fastest route, etc.). As mentioned, the generated set ofactivities may pertain to navigation activities, biometric functions,etc., that are to be performed along the route of travel. Further, aschedule may be created for the list of activities, for example, byassociating a sequence or time table with the generated list ofactivities. The schedule of the activities may also be based on adetermination that the mobile devices 108 and 109 are approaching orwithin some proximity to certain points along the route of travel. Insome aspects, the controller may be configured to dynamically alter theschedule and/or the list of activities to adapt to changes in theenvironment and/or the route of travel.

For example, an activity pertaining to activating a GNSS receiver may beassociated with a location close to a transition from an indoor to anoutdoor environment. Similarly, activities such as obtaining assistancedata (including, for example, map data) corresponding to a particulararea or region, obtaining assistance data to facilitate a quick fix onsatellite signals that may be available within a given region,deactivating a WiFi transceiver, etc., may also be associated with theposition of the mobile device(s) being close to a transition from oneregion to another, possibly with the same or different environments. Onthe other hand, a position which signifies a transition from an outdoorenvironment (one type of region) to an indoor environment (another typeof region) may have associated activities such as obtaining radio signalstrength and/or propagation time heat maps for one or more WiFi accesspoints pertaining corresponding ranges for the indoor area or particularregion therein, floor maps, access point related parameters such asprocessing gain, transmit power, RTT turnaround calibration functions,etc. Further, activities related to activating or deactivating monitorsand sensors used for biometric functions may be associated withparticular expected positions, such as position(s) relating to areaswith steep or changing elevations (e.g., stairs, an uphill path),different modes of travel (e.g., as may occur in a triathlon), etc.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating various components of an examplemobile device 200. Mobile devices 108 and 109 may be configuredaccording to the general framework shown and explained with relation toexample mobile device 200, while keeping in mind that each mobile device108 and 109 may have less, more, or different components in comparisonto mobile device 200. In particular embodiments, mobile devices 108 and109 may have at least one component which is different from one another.

Wide area network (WAN) transceiver 204 may be connected to one or moreantennas 202 for communicating with and/or detecting signals to/fromsources 104 a-c. Wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 206 maybe connected to one or more antennas 202 for communicating with and/ordetecting signals to/from sources 106 a-e. GNSS receiver 208 may beconnected to the one or more antennas 202 for receiving satellitesignals. While GNSS receiver 208 is shown, mobile device 200 may includeadditional receivers of satellite signals which may be used forpositioning. In certain example, implementations, one or more receivers,transmitters, transceivers, and/or the like or some combination thereofmay be provided in mobile device 200 (and/or similarly in otherelectronic devices, computing devices, etc.) as part of a communicationinterface, which is represented in the example of FIG. 2 bycommunication interface 203.

Additionally, mobile device 108 may comprise one or more motion sensors212, which may be coupled to processor 210 to provide movement and/ororientation information which is independent of motion data derived fromsignals received by WAN transceiver 204, WLAN transceiver 206 and GNSSreceiver 208, which are also connected to processor 210. By way ofexample, motion sensor 212 may utilize motion sensors such as anaccelerometer (e.g., a MEMS device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor(e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter),and/or any other type of movement detection sensor. In exemplaryembodiments, motion sensor 212 may utilize one or more components orfeatures derived from motion sensors, such as, a pedometer (e.g., asderived from an accelerometer, to detect step counts), and/or a motionclassifier or motion mode detector (e.g. to classify/detect motion modessuch as stationary, running, driving, etc., which will be discussedfurther below). Moreover, motion sensor 212 may include a plurality ofdifferent types of devices and combine their outputs in order to providemotion information. For example, the motion sensor 212 may use acombination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors toprovide the ability to compute positions in 2-D and/or 3-D coordinatesystems. Processor 210 may include one or more microprocessors,microcontrollers, and/or digital signal processors that provideprocessing functions, as well as other calculation and controlfunctionality. Processor 210 may be coupled to memory 214, which mayinclude and/or otherwise receive information related to wireless-basedpositioning module 216, application module 218, positioning module 228,parameter database 224, and position/motion data module 226, whosefunctions are recognizable by one of ordinary skill in the art, and adetailed description of these will be avoided herein for the sake ofbrevity.

Processor 210 may include any form of (hardware-based, or a combinationof hardware and software based) logic suitable for performing at leastthe techniques provided herein. For example, processor 210 may beoperatively configurable based on instructions in memory 214 toselectively initiate one or more routines that exploit motion data foruse in other portions of the mobile device. Mobile device 200 mayinclude user interface module 250 which provides any suitable interfacesystems, such as microphone/speaker 252, keypad 254, and display 256that allows user interaction with mobile device 108. Mobile device 200may be configurable to acquire wireless signals transmitted from, andtransmit wireless signals to, one or more wireless communication devicesor networks.

Further, as shown, mobile device 200 also includes controller 211 incommunication with processor 210, which may include logic configured formanaging activities in a collaborative manner with at least one othermobile device. Controller 211 can include logic configured to performthe functions related to managing, scheduling, assigning, etc., for theactivities described herein. While controller 211 has been shown asseparate from processor 210, the specific functions of controller 211can also be integrated in processor 210 by suitably enhancing thefunctionality of processor 210. Further, as previously described, notall instantiations of mobile device 200 (e.g., in mobile devices 108,109, etc.) require controller 211 to be present, and as such, controller211 can be present in whole or in part on one or more of the mobiledevices, while being able to control or otherwise indicate the managingof activities on one or more other mobile devices. Functionality relatedto controller 211 may also or alternatively be present in whole or inpart on one or more other devices (e.g., one or more remote servers, orother like computing devices, etc.) in some cases. Regardless of thespecific implementation, controller 211 may be aware of operationalmodes/conditions, components, functionalities, and capabilities of eachof the one more mobile devices (e.g., mobile devices 108, 109, etc.) onwhich activities are to be performed. Controller 211 may obtaininformation pertaining to location of mobile device 200, readings fromsensors and receivers, user inputs, etc., through processor 210 asshown. Controller 211 may also communicate with various components ofmobile device 200, as well as the one or more other mobile devices thatcontroller 211 manages, through processor 210. Once again, alternativeimplementations are possible without deviating from the scope of thisdisclosure.

According to aspects of this disclosure, each of the various blocksshown in FIG. 2, that constitute mobile device 200, can partially,fully, or in combination with other blocks, constitute a subsystem.Thus, a first mobile device (e.g., mobile device 108) may have a firstset of subsystems, and a second mobile device (e.g., mobile device 109)may have a second set of subsystems. Controller 211 can be configured toselectively control, activate, or deactivate one or more subsystems ofthe first set and the second set for the performance of the generatedset of activities. For example, controller 211 may take into account astatus of each mobile device (e.g., on, off, sleep, condition, mode,etc.), statuses of subsystems of each mobile device (e.g., busy,available, already performing a requested activity and can be leveraged,power levels/budgets, etc.), parameters for a desired route-basedapplication, such as a desired level of accuracy in locationdetermination, desired time-to-fix to obtain a GNSS fix, etc., frequencyat which results of biometric monitoring or sensor readings need to beobtained, etc. In this manner, controller 211 may manage power usage,reduce redundant processing and potential wastage of power,intelligently schedule and revise schedules for the activities and/orrevise the activities themselves, based on the availability and lackthereof of subsystems in the first and second sets, as well as remainingbattery life and other real time data related to the first and secondmobile devices.

In some aspects, the first mobile device may be a master device andinclude controller 211 integrated thereon. The second mobile device maybe a slave device which performs activities based on instructions orcommands received from the master device. In the case where the masterdevice is a mobile phone and the slave device is a smart watch, the twodevices may have different sensor capabilities and controller 211 may beaware of the specific capabilities of these two devices. If, forexample, the first and second mobile devices are made by a samemanufacturer or brand, for example, then controller 211 may be able toobtain specifications of the slave device from the manufacturer.However, there is no such requirement for the first and second mobiledevices to share a common brand or manufacturer, as they may be able tocommunicate specifications through a handshaking mechanism or a linkestablished between them. For example, the slave device may be pairedwith or tethered to the master device using Bluetooth technology,following which, controller 211 located on the master device may garnerrequired specifications and information of a second set of subsystemslocated on the slave device through the link. There may be an ongoingcommunication for obtaining real time information about the status ofthe various subsystems of the slave device. Controller 211 may be ableto perform or coordinate functions for communicating informationexchange protocols, rates, formats, etc., as necessary to request andreceive the desired information and status messages from the slavedevice. Some example scenarios will now be described for thecollaborative scheduling and management of activities among the firstand second mobile devices by controller 211.

As previously noted, controller 211 may generate a set of activities tobe performed for a particular application based on proximity to one ormore points along a computed or predetermined route of travel. Toillustrate example operations of controller 211, reference is made toFIG. 3, showing a diagram of an example indoor/outdoor environment 300in which user 302 travels with mobile devices 308 and 309. Mobile device308 may be similar to mobile device 108 described previously, whereinmobile device 308 may include a first set of subsystems and beconfigured according to the framework of mobile device 200 of FIG. 2.Mobile device 308 may be a master device (e.g., a smart-phone) andinclude a controller such as controller 211 (not shown in this view).Mobile device 309 may be similar to mobile device 109. Mobile device 309may include a second set of subsystems. Mobile device 309 may be a slavedevice in exemplary aspects and may include different and in some cases,a reduced set of subsystems in comparison to the master device or mobiledevice 308. Mobile device 309 may be a smart-watch or other wearableelectronic device on the person of user 302. Mobile devices 308 and 309may be in communication with one another based on any wired or wirelesstechnology.

As shown, user 302 may wish to move from a current location inside anindoor structure 310 (e.g., an office building, a shopping mall, etc.)to an outdoor location. Note the terms “position” and “location” areused interchangeably herein. The user's intention to travel outside ofthe indoor structure 310 may be communicated via a user interface,similar to the user interface module 250, etc., of the example mobiledevice 200 depicted in relation to FIG. 2. For example, the user mayprovide text-data, voice data, etc., to an application program thatreceives that user information indicative of the user's intendeddestination location. The destination location may be specified as aname of a place, a point on a map (displayed on the mobile device'sscreen), an address, geographical coordinates, etc. In some embodiments,the starting location may be assumed to be the user's current location,as may be determined by a position determination procedure which can beimplemented on either or both of mobile devices 308 and 309, or remotelyat a remote server or remote computing device, such as a remote server312 depicted in FIG. 3. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the startinglocation may be specified as a name of a place (provided by the userthrough a voice-interface, a keypad, or some other interface), a pointon a map (displayed on the mobile device's screen), an address,geographical coordinates, etc. While located in an indoor environment,satellite signals may be restricted or unavailable and the location ofthe mobile devices 308 and 309 may be determined from signals receivedfrom one or more wireless access points. In the example of FIG. 3, oneor both of mobile devices 308 and 309 may be in communication withaccess points 306 a, 306 b and 306 c (e.g., WiFi-based access points,Bluetooth transceivers, cellular access points, etc.). Access points 306a-c may also be in communication with the remote server 312 (which maybe directly coupled to the access points, or, as depicted in FIG. 3, maycommunicate with those access points wirelessly via transceiver/accesspoint 314).

In some aspects, location of the mobile devices 308 and/or 309 may bedetermined based on such metrics as, for example, RSSI and/or RTT,determined by the corresponding mobile device. Generally, the determinedRSSI and/or the RTT, corresponding to measurements of signals receivedfrom one or more access points can be used to determine an estimate ofthe device's location. For example, a database containing geographiclocations, power profiles and RTTs for multiple access points with knowngeographical positions may be compared to currently determined RSSIand/or RTT values. Using these known positions, the relative distancesof the mobile device 308 and/or 309 to the access points may bedetermined, and a geographic location of the mobile devices may becomputed/derived (e.g., using multi-lateration procedures, such as atrilateration procedure). Other known methods and techniques fordetermining the current location of mobile devices 308 and 309 may alsobe used.

Based on the determined current location of the mobile device 308 and/or309, and a selected destination location, a route of travel, such asroute of travel 320 shown in FIG. 3, to be traversed by user 302 (and byextension, by the mobile devices 308 and 309 the user is carrying) isdetermined, either by a process implemented by one or both of mobiledevices 308 and 309, or by a process implemented by a remote server. Ineither situation, at least one route of travel 320 for user 302 from thecurrent location to the destination point is determined.

Based on the determined route of travel 320, a set of activities thatare to be performed along the route of travel may be generated. The setof activities may be determined by controller 211 located on mobiledevice 308 in one illustrative example. The set of activities mayalternatively be determined by a remote server, such as the remoteserver 312, and provided to mobile device 308.

In determining the set of activities, specific points along route oftravel 320 may be identified. These points may include pointscorresponding to geographic locations where changes in the environmentsin which the mobile devices 308 and 309 are traveling are expected.These environment changes include changes in the operationalenvironment, which may include changes to the communication capabilitiesavailable in the changing operational environments, and/or changes tothe actual geographic environment, such as transitioning from an indoorenvironment to an outdoor environment. At least a portion of the set ofactivities may be need to be performed, and thus, assigned to mobiledevices 308 and 309, based on a determination that at least one ofmobile devices 308 or 309 is positioned at or within a thresholddistance of a specific point on the route of travel. Moreover, in somecases, at least a portion of the set of activities is only performedwhile the route of travel is followed. As will be discussed in followingsections, deviations from an original or pre-planned route of travel mayresult in a new or revised set of activities to be performed based on anew route of travel caused by the deviation.

In the example illustration of FIG. 3, four (4) points are shown,namely, points A, B, C, and D. Points A, B, C, D, may be expectedtransition points where the mobile devices 308 and 309 may move into adifferent geographical environment and/or to a new operationenvironment. Accordingly, one or more activities may be associated withthese transition points, where the activities may need to be performedwhen at least one of the mobile devices 308/309 is within a predefinedthreshold distance from at least one of these points.

For example, point A is a point preceding the point where user 302 (andthus the mobile devices 308 and 309) will move from the top floor of theindoor structure 310 to the middle floor. Controller 211 may assignand/or schedule a set of activities collaboratively on mobile devices308 and 309 along route of travel 320 from the current location to pointA, and in some cases, specifically at point A. These activities may beperformed by one or more subsystems located on mobile devices 308 and309. However, there may be redundancy if both of the mobile devices 308and 309 are performing same or similar activities to obtain same orsimilar results at point A. In order to avoid this redundant wastage ofpower and improve performance, controller 211 may distribute theactivities at point A among the two sets of subsystems on mobile devices308 and 309 respectively.

For example, an activity related to obtaining a floor map for the middlefloor of the indoor structure 310 may be identified by controller 211 atpoint A. Rather than have both mobile devices 308 and 309 perform thisactivity, controller 211 may assign or schedule this activity to beperformed only at mobile device 308 and deactivate any relatedsubsystems which may have been used by mobile device 309 to obtain anupdated floor map. Similarly, additional activities at point A mayrelate to activation of a plurality of sensors, receivers, monitors,etc. For example, pressure sensors may not be needed if the route stayson the same level, such as the top floor. However, at point A, pressuresensors may need to be activated. Controller 211 may activate thepressure sensors on mobile device 309 while keeping those on mobiledevice 308 deactivated, at point A, so that mobile device 308 may expendits power on other activities or conserve battery life. Moreover,collaborative performance of the activity may be possible, where mobiledevice 308 may altogether lack pressure sensors, but mobile device 309may have pressure sensors. Thus, the functions of mobile device 308 maybe enhanced by the use of pressure sensor data obtained from mobiledevice 309. In a different example, GNSS receivers may remaindeactivated on both mobile devices 308 and 309 as long as point A fallsinside indoor structure 310, even if point A is close to a window orexit with strong satellite signals being present. In other examples,controller 211 may identify activities related to monitoring biometricinformation of user 302 at point A where a change of elevation willoccur. Controller 211 may assign these activities or schedule them to beperformed on mobile device 309 by activating corresponding sensors andmonitors on mobile device 309. Mobile device 309, which may be asmart-watch worn by user 302 on his/her wrist, may be better equipped toobtain measurements related to pulse rate of user 302, and as such,these activities may be assigned to or scheduled on mobile device 309.

In a similar manner to the determination of and managing of activitiesfor point A, by controller 211, activities may be determined for pointsB, C, and D, as well as, for additional points in between thesespecifically identified points. Point B is similar to point A andrepresents a transition from the middle floor to the bottom floor ofindoor structure 310. Similar functions as those described above forpoint A, may be performed by controller 211 at point B. Point Ccorresponds to a location where user 302 is about to transition from anindoor environment to an outdoor environment. At point C, controller 211may identify activities related to requesting and/or computing signalacquisition assistance data (satellite positioning assistance data),activating a satellite receiver such as GNSS receiver 208 of mobiledevice 200 of FIG. 2, obtaining assistance data (e.g., map data) for theoutdoor area, etc. Controller 211 may manage these activities to becollaboratively performed by mobile devices 308 and 309. For example, atpoint C, mobile device 308 may be better suited for performing theabove-identified activities and thus, any subsystems on mobile device309 which may be capable of performing these activities may be powereddown. The assistance data, once procured by mobile device 308, may beshared with mobile device 309, for example.

Controller 211 may also identify activities to be performed when user302 transitions to an outdoor area and reaches point D. These activitiesmay include, for example, activating the acquiring satellite signals,deactivating any sensor that may have been needed while the mobiledevices 308 and 309 were traveling indoor (e.g., a pressure sensor oraltimeter which may have been operating to enable determination of thealtitude of the mobile device), etc. Controller 211 may suitablyschedule activation and/or deactivation of subsystems in mobile devices308 and 309 for the performance of these activities at point D.

Sometimes there may be deviations or changes from predicted orpre-planned conditions for user 302. Controller 211 may be configured tobe responsive to these changes and dynamically alter the list ofactivities to be performed and/or allocation of activities among thesubsystems of mobile device 308 and 309. Such deviations or changes maybe with regard to a pre-planned route of travel and/or conditionsassociated with one or more of mobile devices 308, 309, etc. Some of thepotential changes in conditions which may happen and the ways in whichcontroller 211 may respond to these changes will be discussed below.

As noted, in some aspects, the changes can be in terms of deviationsfrom a pre-planned route of travel. The deviations may be in terms ofdiverging from an original path and/or changes in conditions such asenvironmental changes, changes in speed/velocity etc., which may occuror take place along the path. For example, user 302 may take a pathwhich diverges from the pre-planned route of travel 320 discussed above.Additionally, or alternatively, there may be environmental changes(e.g., rain, storm, clouds, etc.) which can affect positioning functionsdue to changes or degradation in the signals used for multi-laterationof mobile devices 308/309, for example. In some cases, a deviation fromthe pre-planned route of travel may introduce tunnels or otherstructures which can affect the signals used for multi-lateration ofmobile devices 308/309 in the new route of travel. In some cases, theremay be changes in speed/velocity of travel along route of travel 320,where user 302 may go faster/slower than expected, which can also affectthe positioning functions.

Controller 211 may be configured to adapt or respond to these unexpectedchanges related to route of travel in several ways. For example, if thechange incurs an alternative path, controller 211 may dynamically modifyan originally generated list of activities and determine a new orrevised set of activities associated with the new route of travel.Controller 211 may assign at least a portion of the new or revised setof activities among the subsystems of mobile device 308 and 309. Thus, adetermination that a user deviated from the route of travel may resultin activation or deactivation of one or more subsystems of mobile device308 and/or 309. For example, if it is determined that user 302 hasdeviated from route of travel 320, one or more previously inactivetransceivers may need to be activated to attempt to establish acommunication link with an access point that may be closer to thepresent position of user 302. In aspects where signal losses may occur,controller 211 may switch or assign positioning functions to the deviceamong mobile devices 308 and 309 which is likely to have strongertransceivers and or better capabilities for positioning functions underthe diminished signal conditions. If controller 211 may become aware ofupcoming signal degradations or losses (e.g., a new route of travel mayinvolve passing through a tunnel, which the original route did notinvolve), controller 211 may modify a new set of activities which can,for example, turn off some transceivers in one or both of mobile devices308, 309 in order to conserve battery life rather than needlessly searchfor and attempt to receive satellite signals which are unavailable ordiminished. If there are unexpected changes in speed/velocity along aroute of travel, controller 211 may modify the allocation of activitiesamong mobile devices 308 and 309 based on which one of the devices wouldbe better suited to handle positioning functions at the alteredspeed/velocity. Controller 211 may correspondingly manage the changes inallocation of activities as well as activations/deactivations of thesubsystems on mobile devices 308 and 309 based on the new or revised setof activities resulting from the various changes related to a route oftravel.

Some changes may also take place which are not necessarily related tothe route of travel. For example, there may be changes in conditions ofmobile devices 308, 309 related to battery life, state of charging,temporary activation/deactivation (e.g., one or both devices may be in asleep mode), level of activity (e.g., highly active/busy, less activeand available to accept new activities), etc. In some cases, one or morenew devices may also become available and/or one or more existingdevices may no longer be available, and/or detected/detectable bycontroller 211. Controller 211 may be configured to dynamically create anew set of activities and/or modify an existing set of activities andallocate/re-allocate these among available mobile devices in such cases.For example, based on battery life, activity levels, availability, etc.,of mobile devices 308 and 309, controller 211 may activate/deactivatesubsystems of one or both devices. In other examples, determining setsof activities and time, durations, or schedules related to theseactivities may also include other aspects of mobile devices 308 and 309,such as sensor calibration activities, device maintenance and updatingoperations, etc., which may need to be performed every certain timeperiod, whether or not the mobile devices have arrived at somepre-specified location where location-based or route-based activities asdiscussed above are to be performed. In some cases, controller 211 mayalso take into account the battery lives of mobile devices 308 and 309.Mobile device 309 may, for example, communicate the status of itsbattery or charge levels running low to controller 211, wherebycontroller 211 may revise any previously scheduled activities on mobiledevice 309 (e.g., revise the time of start/stop, duration of theactivity, etc.) and/or transfer the scheduled activities on mobiledevice 309 to mobile device 308 (assuming mobile device 308 hassufficient battery life to handle the increase load for performing thetransferred activities). Thus, in some aspects, scheduling theseadditional activities or revised activities can occur at various pointsof a user's route of travel and/or at various points of time during thetravel, but these activities may not be directly related to a locationor point in the route.

In order to be responsive to the various changes noted above, controller211 may include functionality to detect changes in pre-plannedconditions (which may or may not be specific to a route of travel) andto adapt to these changes by generating a new set of activities and/orrevising an original set of activities. Controller 211 may include thefunctionality to manage and assign the new and/or revised set ofactivities among the two or more collocated mobile devices such asmobile devices 308 and 309 discussed above. Modules 502, 503, 504, and506 shown in FIG. 5 and discussed further below may include suchfunctionality.

It will be appreciated that embodiments include various methods forperforming the processes, functions and/or algorithms disclosed herein.For example, in FIG. 4, an exemplary aspect can include a method 400 foruse in managing activities among two or more collocated mobile devicesis shown. At Block 402, the method includes determining a route oftravel (e.g., 320) corresponding to the two or more collocated mobiledevices (e.g., 308, 309) prior to a start of travel. As describedpreviously, at least one of the two or more mobile devices (308 or 309)may receive from user 302 (e.g., via an input interface such as 250,252, 254, 256, etc., of FIG. 2) information indicating the user'sdesired destination (e.g., the user may provide a pinpoint location ofthe destination on a map displayed on the mobile device's screen, orhe/she may provide an address or specify a name of a place, etc.) Thedestination location and a starting point location (which may be theuser's current location as determined through a multi-laterationprocesses, profile matching techniques, etc.) may then be used todetermine, based on assistance data (including, e.g., map data, whichmay be stored at the local device, or at a remote server to which thecurrent and destination location have been communicated) one or morepossible routes from the current location to the destination. As noted,the route determination may be performed at a server or a remotecomputing device (e.g., remote server 312) in communication with atleast one of the two or more collocated mobile devices (e.g., throughaccess point 314) and/or at one of the two or more collocated mobiledevices. Where more than one possible route of travel is available, theroute that best meets some criterion (e.g., shortest or fastest route)may be the route selected.

At Block 404, the method 400 includes determining a set of activities tobe performed by the two or more collocated mobile devices after thestart of travel based, at least in part, on the route of travel. In moredetail, based on the route of travel determined at Block 402, a set ofactivities (including positioning activities, biometric activities,device maintenance activities, etc.) associated with the route oftravel. In some aspects, the set of activities is obtained byidentifying points along the route where various activities may need tobe performed. The identified points may include points where, forexample, the user will transition from one geographical and/oroperational environment to another geographic and/or operationalenvironment. Changes to operational environments in which the user istraveling may include, for example, changes to the communicationcapabilities available in the changing operational environments, andchanges to the actual geographic environment may include transitioningfrom an indoor environment to an outdoor environment, for example. Ifthere are changes related to the route of travel and/or conditionsassociated with at least one of the two or more collocated devices, anew or revised set of activities are determined based on these changes.

At Block 406, the method 400 includes assigning at least a portion ofthe activities (either an original set of activities or a new/revisedset of activities as the case may be) among a first set of subsystems ina first mobile device (e.g., mobile device 308) and a second set ofsubsystems in a second mobile device (e.g., mobile device 309), whereinthe first mobile device and the second mobile device are configured tocommunicate with one another, wherein the first set and the second sethave at least one subsystem which is different. For example, inaccordance with the determined set of activities, one or more of theactivities may be scheduled on subsystems of mobile device 308 (e.g., asmart-phone or a master device) and subsystems of mobile device 309(e.g., a smart-watch or a slave device). The two mobile devices may haveat least one different subsystem. For example, mobile device 308 may nothave a pressure sensor whereas mobile device 309 may have a pressuresensor. In another example, mobile device 309 may not have a processorof the same caliber or performance level as a processor in mobile device308. The two mobile devices may also have different receivers, sensors,antennae, input/output devices, configurations, capabilities, etc. Thus,a controller such as controller 211 may schedule activities among mobiledevices 308 and 309 based on each device's capabilities, therequirements for a specific task, and additional considerations such aseach device's battery levels. Exemplary navigation activities to bescheduled among the two mobile devices may relate to controlling theactivation of one or more units (e.g., sensors, receivers, transceivers,other modules), obtaining assistance data, obtaining (e.g., computing)signal acquisition assistance data to facilitate satellite signalacquisition, establishing a communication link with an access point,controlling the activation of a device's one or more positioning modes,etc., when the mobile devices are about to transition from an indoorenvironment to an outdoor environment. Exemplary activities related tobiometric functions may include activating/deactivating monitors,sensors, etc., for obtaining a user's biometric state based on when themobile devices transition through changes in elevation, transition fromindoor to outdoor environments, etc.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example mobile device apparatus 500 represented asa series of interrelated functional modules. Module 502 may includefunctionality for determining a route of travel corresponding to two ormore collocated mobile devices (which may include mobile deviceapparatus 500 and one or more other mobile devices collocated withmobile device apparatus 500), prior to a start of travel. Module 502 maycorrespond at least in some aspects to, for example, a processing systemin conjunction with positioning data, such as processor 210 inconjunction with wireless-based positioning module 216 in FIG. 2, asdiscussed herein.

As previously mentioned, apparatus 500 may also include functionalmodule 503, where module 503 may include functionality for detectingchanges in pre-planned conditions related to the route of travel and/orconditions of one or more of the collocated devices. For example, module503 may include functionality for detecting one or more changesassociated with the route of travel, wherein the one or more changesinclude one or more of a new route of travel, changes in environmentalconditions, or changes in speed or velocity along the route of travel.Module 503 may also include functionality for detecting changes in oneor more conditions related to at least one of the two or more collocatedmobile devices, wherein the conditions include one or more of batterylevel, activity level, or availability of the at least one of the two ormore collocated mobile devices. Module 503 may also correspond at leastin some aspects to, for example, a processing system in conjunction withpositioning data, such as processor 210 in conjunction withwireless-based positioning module 216 in FIG. 2, as discussed herein.

Module 504 may include functionality for determining a set of activities(either an original set of activities based on information availablefrom module 502 and/or a new or revised set of activities based oninformation available from module 503) to be performed by the two ormore collocated mobile devices after the start of travel based, at leastin part, on the route of travel. Module 504 may correspond at least insome aspects to, for example, a controller in conjunction with aprocessor, such as controller 211 in conjunction with processor 210 inFIG. 2, as discussed herein.

Module 506 for assigning at least a portion of the set of activities(e.g., the original set of activities and/or the new or revised set ofactivities) among a first set of subsystems in a first mobile device ofthe two or more mobile devices and a second set of subsystems in asecond mobile device of the two or more mobile devices, may correspondat least in some aspects to, for example, a controller in conjunctionwith a processor, such as controller 211 in conjunction with processor210 in FIG. 2, as discussed herein.

Additionally, in some instances, one or more of modules 502, 503, 504,and/or 506 may correspond at least in some aspects to all or part ofcommunication interface 203 in FIG. 2. In certain instances, e.g., aspart of an act of assigning activities and/or thereafter as part of thecommunication between the various devices, one or more signals maytransmitted to at least one of the two or more collocated mobiledevices. A processor, for example, processor 210 of FIG. 2, may beconfigured to initiate transmission of the one or more signals to atleast one of the two or more collocated mobile devices. The transmittedsignals may be indicative of at least one activity that may be assignedto at least one recipient mobile device among the collocated mobiledevices. In certain instances, one or more activities may beconditional. For example, one or more activities may be performed basedon a determination that at least one of the collocated mobile devices isestimated to be positioned within a threshold distance of a point on theroute of travel. In certain instances, some activities may only beperformed while a particular route of travel is determined to have beenfollowed or is being followed.

The functionality of the modules of FIG. 5 may be implemented in variousways consistent with the teachings herein. In some designs, thefunctionality of these modules may be implemented as one or moreelectrical components. In some designs, the functionality of theseblocks may be implemented as a processing system including one or moreprocessor components. In some designs, the functionality of thesemodules may be implemented using, for example, at least a portion of oneor more integrated circuits (e.g., an ASIC). As discussed herein, anintegrated circuit may include a processor, software, other relatedcomponents, or some combination thereof. Thus, the functionality ofdifferent modules may be implemented, for example, as different subsetsof an integrated circuit, as different subsets of a set of softwaremodules, or a combination thereof. Also, it will be appreciated that agiven subset (e.g., of an integrated circuit and/or of a set of softwaremodules) may provide at least a portion of the functionality for morethan one module.

In addition, the components and functions represented by FIG. 5, as wellas other components and functions described herein, may be implementedusing any suitable means. Such means also may be implemented, at leastin part, using corresponding structure as taught herein. For example,the components described above in conjunction with the “module for”components of FIG. 5 also may correspond to similarly designated “meansfor” functionality. Thus, in some aspects one or more of such means maybe implemented using one or more of processor components, integratedcircuits, or other suitable structure as taught herein.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present disclosure.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection withthe embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware,in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of thetwo. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROMmemory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removabledisk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor.

Accordingly, an embodiment of the disclosure can include an articlewhich can comprise non-transitory computer readable media having storedtherein instructions that are executable by a processor to manageactivities among two or more collocated mobile devices. Accordingly, thedisclosure is not limited to illustrated examples and any means forperforming the functionality described herein are included inembodiments of the disclosure.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative embodiments of thedisclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosureas defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actionsof the method claims in accordance with the embodiments of thedisclosure described herein need not be performed in any particularorder. Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be describedor claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitationto the singular is explicitly stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for use in managing two or more mobiledevices that are collocated, the method comprising: determining a set oftasks to be performed collectively by the two or more collocated mobiledevices while collocated and during a period of time in the future, thetwo or more collocated mobile devices being configured to communicatewith one another; assigning a first task of the set of tasks to beperformed by a first mobile device of the two or more collocated mobiledevices; and assigning a second task of the set of tasks to be performedby a second mobile device of the two or more collocated mobile devices;wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device aredifferent from one another with regard to at least one subsystem, andwherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device are eachcapable of performing the first task and the second task.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein at least one of the two or more collocated mobiledevices is located on a user's person.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising detecting a change in at least one condition related to atleast one of two or more collocated mobile devices and determining a newset of tasks to be performed collectively by the two or more collocatedmobile devices, modifying an assignment of the set of tasks to beperformed collectively by the two or more collocated mobile devices, ora combination thereof.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the conditioncomprises one or more of battery level, state of charging, activitylevel, temporary activation or deactivation, or availability of the atleast one of the two or more collocated mobile devices.
 5. The method ofclaim 3, comprising one or more of transferring the first task to thesecond mobile device or transferring the second task to the first mobiledevice.
 6. An apparatus configured to manage activities among two ormore mobile devices that are collocated, the apparatus comprising:memory; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to:determine a set of tasks to be performed collectively by the two or morecollocated mobile devices while collocated and during a period of timein the future, the two or more collocated mobile devices beingconfigured to communicate with one another; assign a first task of theset of tasks to be performed by a first mobile device of the two or morecollocated mobile devices; and assign a second task of the set of tasksto be performed by a second mobile device of the two or more collocatedmobile devices; wherein the first mobile device and the second mobiledevice are different from one another with regard to at least onesubsystem, and wherein the first mobile device and the second mobiledevice are each capable of performing the first task and the secondtask.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to detect a change in at least one condition related to atleast one of two or more collocated mobile devices and determine a newset of tasks to be performed collectively by the two or more collocatedmobile devices, modify an assignment of the set of tasks to be performedcollectively by the two or more collocated mobile devices, or acombination thereof.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the conditioncomprises one or more of battery level, state of charging, activitylevel, temporary activation or deactivation, or availability of the atleast one of the two or more collocated mobile devices.
 9. The apparatusof claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to transfer the firsttask to the second mobile device, or transfer the second task to thefirst mobile device, or a combination thereof.
 10. A system for managingactivities among two or more mobile devices that collocated, the systemcomprising: means for determining a set of tasks to be performedcollectively by the two or more collocated mobile devices whilecollocated and during a period of time in the future, the two or morecollocated mobile devices being configured to communicate with oneanother; means for assigning a first task of the set of tasks to beperformed by a first mobile device of the two or more collocated mobiledevices; and means for assigning a second task of the set of tasks to beperformed by a second mobile device of the two or more collocated mobiledevices; wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile deviceare different from one another with regard to at least one subsystem,and wherein the first mobile device and the second mobile device areeach capable of performing the first task and the second task.
 11. Thesystem of claim 10, further comprising: means for detecting a change inat least one condition related to at least one of two or more collocatedmobile devices, and means for determining a new set of tasks to beperformed collectively by the two or more collocated mobile devices,modifying an assignment of the set of tasks to be performed collectivelyby the two or more collocated mobile devices, or a combination thereof.12. The system of claim 11, wherein the condition comprises one or moreof battery level, state of charging, activity level, temporaryactivation or deactivation, or availability of the at least one of thetwo or more collocated mobile devices.
 13. The system of claim 11,comprising means for transferring the first task to the second mobiledevice or the second task to the first mobile device, or a combinationthereof.